Enigmatic
by AsTimePassesSlowly
Summary: Lucy has visions and dreams about a small, old box. And the things are getting worse day by day. Senseless visions, creepy old men, corpse-like heads, and stuff keep appearing each day in it and suddenly, she has the weird little box in her house. What awaits her inside the box? Read this Lucy-Natsu fic. and know. (Don't know if I'll do NaLu)
1. Chapter 1 Nightmare

**Author's Note: I do not own! WHEEEE! I created a language! WHEEEE! You are reading this! WHEEEE! And make it clear, if something is German, I really really don't know German. Oh right, it's just the first chapter and of exactly 1000 words. Please tell me if it's good!**

**Have fun reading minna!**

Lucy rushed into the attic and rapped the door shut. Her vision had turned blurry, with half-nervousness and half-fear and maybe anxiousness. She slowly stalked the length of the room, where the box of brass, which seemed to give out a luminous flickering green light out of the little space it was open, rested majestically. The box had worn out with patches of fungus covering several different portions of the box. It looked approximately two- hundred years old. But Lucy knew exactly that it was of her those ancestors who lived two-hundred and nineteen years ago. She started to brush the dust off the lid of the box, again, where inscriptions were etched.

Something weird was written in the was able to translate it but did not know why she could.

"_Esmello Etente Saint__"- _The Saint Emperor's Spoil.

'All right', Lucy thought, 'So now, at last, its time'. She gently opened the box, revealing what was inside. All these attempts have always led to something weird, weirder and creepier than earlier. She was never exactly able to know it contained. Except for a few glimpses, that was certainly some kind of clue. Now what she saw, was something like an abyss, that started inside the box. And suddenly, she could see things clearer and that too, far better than a normal human could see. What she saw wasn't good. Her senses thrived to show her this, but she didn't want this. It was her mother-Layla's head, covered with blood and something like gold bits with her eyes open and looking at Lucy. She was trying to say something Lucy could not figure out.

* * *

"NO!" Lucy woke up with a start, her eyes wide. "Oh my… oh my gods, no! Why am I seeing all this?"

"What are you seeing?" said an over -excited masculine voice. "It's the third time this week you're saying this after waking up."

Lucy took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Her dream was extremely disturbing. "Uhm well… it's the third time- WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" She said.

"Don't try to change the topic, Lucy." Now, the voice was serious.

"It's nothing." Why she said that- she did not know.

"And always the same reply- it's nothing. C'mon, tell me what it is. What the point of hiding things from me?" It was Natsu.

"Aye! You don't need to hide anything from us, Lucy" said the shrilly kitty voice of Happy.

"We have a party at Levi's, right?" Lucy said, trying to change the topic again, "I gotta get a new dress for it, you know. I've worn all my dresses twice to her parties." She got up from her bed and started shuffling up all the party- wears existing her stylish closet. She turned and found Natsu right in front of her, looking directly into her eyes, standing uncomfortably near, glaring at her suspiciously. She thought, for a moment, JUST for a moment, that he was going to rip her soul apart or maybe say something cheesy. Instead, he grabbed her shoulders and said, "Lucy, you've been acting weird lately, tell me what's going on."

"Kii-i-i-i-i-i-ssss!" said Happy and Natsu loosened his grip. Lucy, at that point, took the chance and backed away.

"I think we should go for shopping," she said trying to break the tension and hurried into the bathroom before anyone can force her into bluffing up and feel guilty later.

* * *

Lucy got washed and dressed up in a normal white cotton blouse and a blue jean-skirt while Natsu and Happy were waiting in the Living Room. She got out and soon, they were marching along the markets. She knew that Natsu was gazing at her, trying to understand what was happening to her all the way. She tried to blarney along the way to clear his mind, but of course it was of no use.

She went into the "La femme" shop of the French designer (the best one in Magnolia) - Castaly. She designs and tailors the clothes herself. She doesn't keep a tailor as she doesn't want to pay her wages as she contributes her money to the poor families and generally likes to help others.

When Lucy entered, she was welcomed with words of different languages by Castaly which was weird: - "Ohio mademoiselle Lucy." "Hello Miss Castaly, it's a pleasure to come to here."

"I see you've got this gentleman with you, does he want some gowns too?" Oh. I forgot to mention. This lady is a big fan of the Weekly Sorcerer. And well, she too saw the punishment of the race on the first page of that issue.

Lucy giggled. "No Miss Castaly, it's all right. I have a party today so can you show me the latest party-wears?"

While she was looking at the dresses, Natsu sat on a desk, just beside where Lucy was standing. He was in a mixed state. He was extremely worried about Lucy. He sensed something fishy. After every dream, Lucy had the same wild look in her face, of fear. Same expressions each day was extremely unsettling for him. He was always over-protective towards his nakama so now he couldn't bear to see Lucy this way. She was obviously seeing something terrifying as she has never acted so clumsily before. All he could think was: - 'I have to know what's happening and do something.'

**Thank you for reading! Should I continue it?**

**Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2 Levi

**Thanks for the reviews! Here's another chapter. Thanks a lot the Guest reviewer and AsDarknessSpreads.**

Chapter 2

"You don't need to follow me, you know, you can go home and get dressed," Lucy said as she turned. Happy was at Wendy's, trying to give gifts to Carla and she didn't want Natsu around her. Natsu ignored her and kept moving. Why was he doing this?

"Natsu," Lucy said a bit more audibly. Nothing happened. "Natsu!" she shouted. "What?" Natsu turned to face her.

"Go home." Lucy said in a low voice.

"I'm not going to leave you until you tell me-"

"Why? Why do you want to know something I don't want to tell you? And well... it's just a nightmare. What good will it be- knowing a nightmare?"

"Lucy, there has to be something going on. You say it's a nightmare, well, if it's a nightmare then why are you holding it in? It's _just_ a nightmare after all." Lucy bit her lip. She was looking at the floor. She didn't say anything. What could she have said to him, that she watched her beloved people's heads in a creepy way in a freaking old little brass box? It was just so unreal and abnormal!

Natsu was looking into her eyes. She couldn't look up. She couldn't reply. She could hide the truth, but she couldn't bear the guilt. She didn't even know why exactly she was hiding it.

"It's not _just_ a nightmare, is it?" Natsu said. Lucy shook her head. Natsu held her wrist gently to turn her and they walked towards her house. He soon left the grip.

They had reached Lucy's home.

"You're not getting out of here, are you?" Lucy said, clutching her new dress. "And are you going to Levy's party wearing _that_?" she said, noting the dress he was wearing. "Don't you have to change too?" Natsu was still looking at her, trying to figure her out. "Natsu, go to your place, please, and wear something better. I don't want my partn-"Lucy stopped herself from saying further. She knew that Levy was holding a ball at her birthday and she had written who is whose partner in the dance. Being her best friend, she knew who her partner was already. "-Uhm, t-team partner! So I want you to wear something formal."Natsu observed her for a moment. Was Lucy blushing?

"Then," Natsu smirked, "I guess I'll have to wear one of _your_ dresses to her party and-" Before he could say anything else Lucy had already kicked him out. Literally, _kicked_ him out. "Ouch! Lucy kicks haaard!" And so, he went home to change.

Lucy was left embarrassed, yet again. She hurriedly dressed up and applied some make up. She wasn't wearing a very stylish gown or anything, but, in contrast, it looked good on her. She wore a plain, toe-length, red dress with pretty frills and fringes.

Levy's Party

Lucy walked in with black hanging bag and a gift in her hand. It had a pretty heart-shaped pedant that can be opened to reveal two photos. Lucy played a prank and put one photo of Gajeel and one of Levy in it. She soon spotted Levy and went to her. She gave her a hug and her gift. After some talks and gossips, she started to look around. She saw that every member of Fairy Tail was there, even Natsu, except Gajeel. Lucy giggled. She could guess why.

Her gaze fell upon Natsu. He was wearing a black suit. Lucy could have mistaken him for a waiter, but he didn't look like one. He looked really good. She didn't know if he could dance, but she had to dance with him anyway. She noticed him and Gray fighting over something and then, from another corner, Erza walking towards them. She decided to go to them. When she reached them, Erza was still walking towards them in a slow pace. "Err...zzaaa" Lucy said. Natsu and Gray froze and turned. Now Erza was standing there. They quickly jumped on and held each other. "Ha Ha Ha" "La La La" "Ho Ho Ho" "Ye Ye Ye." But Erza ignored them and walked out of the main entrance with folded hands. Lucy saw a streak of blue out there. "Oh" she thought.

"Excuse me everybody" came a loud voice of Levy through a mike. The voice of the people who were talking dropped. "Thank you very much." Her eyes scanned the crowd. Lucy saw Gajeel in some far corner. "On this occasion of my birthday, I've set up a ball and have written who is going to dance with whom. I request you to be with the partners I, and few of my friends have chosen and everybody wants to see them together. The names are as follows..."Lucy paid attention to only a few of them. "Elfman and Evergreen", "Gray and Cana", "Bisca and Alzack", "Well... we thought really hard for Erza but there weren't many choices and thus decided her to dance her off with Mystogan", "Laxus with Mirajane", "Wendy and Romeo", "Natsu and Lucy". She noticed Natsu come and stand by her. He seemed... nervous. Levy said some more names and then stopped for a moment and said, "And GajeelandLevy. Let it begin!" And with this the crowd roared and Lucy heard the song play. She realised that the room was moving in a circular motion. And Natsu's nervousness wasn't nervousness, it was motion sickness (damn it, she thought). She saw Levy scolding the party organizers. Maybe the room wasn't supposed to move. Lucy could see Gajeel's face and he looked like he was about to throw up too. She waited until the moving stopped and then looked at Natsu. He was all right now, almost.

Everybody was dancing now and Natsu held Lucy's hand. "Ehehehehe... Lucy, can you teach me how to dance. I don't remember how I danced in that quest of the robber..." Lucy was expecting this.

She gave him directions and soon they were dancing. Suddenly, Lucy froze. She didn't know why. She closed her eyes and she blacked out. She could see a box- an old brass box lying beside her bed in a blurry vision. "What?" Natsu asked.

"Actually, I have to go home. Now."She was fidgeting and Natsu saw it. "I'm coming too," he said. "No!" she bit her tongue. She replied too fast, and this made Natsu even more suspicious. She hastily turned and ran away, shouting behind her back, "I will be back soon, Natsu! Don't wait for me!"

Natsu saw her back disappearing out of the gate. He then turned to join his teammates.

**Thank you all for reading. And Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3 Illusions

**So… just to tell you all… this chapter will have switching POV's. And, did I mention I created a language earlier? It's just a language of 3 words up until now, I guess. Have fun reading! Thanks a lot for the reviews, follows and favorites!**

Lucy was now running to her house. She had to reach there. She wanted to know what was in that box, or did she? Why was it always in her dreams? How in the world was it in her house? Her speed increased along with the curiosity and fears. Suddenly, she stopped. She had a slight feeling that someone was following her for a moment. She turned to look if anyone was there. She saw no one, and sighed. She continued to run and built her pace.

No sooner did she enter her house, she started having a whiff of sadness and happiness together. Of flaws and of purity. Of breaks and of joins. She closed the door behind her but didn't lock it. Her vision had turned blurry, with half-nervousness and half-fear and maybe anxiousness. She slowly stalked the length of the room. Beside her bed laid a box of brass, which seemed to give out a luminous flickering green light out of the little space it was open. She sat down in front of it and stared at it. Something about it was not right. This box was quite… enigmatic.

Something foreign was written in the middle and she could translate it but did not know why she could.

"_Esmello Etente Saint"- _The Saint Emperor's Spoil.

Lucy let out a little shriek. Did she really want to see what it contained? The same box that haunted her nights-she didn't want to open it. No, she wanted to, but she couldn't make herself do so. God knows what she'll see inside. Why did that come here? How did that come here?

Her mom, maternal granddad and grandma - she didn't want to see them the way she saw them in the visuals. They just _couldn't _be that way. She tried to calculate the weirdness of her dreams and summed up one word- senseless. This just doesn't make sense at all. A creepy head inside a box? How unnatural! But still… just being near it was gave her the chills. 'Okay,' she thought, 'I live in a world of magic, I can use my keys.'

But, for what? She can't fight a box, it would be insane. Nevertheless, she decided to call on Cancer.

"Do you want a haircut, ebi?"

"No, Cancer-look. There's a problem here." She explained him everything. She didn't know what he could do, but maybe she could take a chance. She watched him as he examined the box, scratching his head. By the looks of it, he was extremely muddled. Lucy sighed. "You can leave now, Cancer." And then he vanished. Why did she even call him again? She sat down beside the box, with her head in her hands.

She couldn't wait any longer. Now she was fidgeting. She came back to the position she was in at the starting- sitting on her knees in front of the box- and slowly & cautiously lifted the handle with great care. For a while, everything was still. Nothing happened. Then she saw an envelope, a book, a crown, and a bag appear inside the box. The envelope was lying on the top, so she picked it up first. As soon as she opened it, she felt a chilly breeze on her face. She ignored it and took out and folded piece of paper from inside. She opened it to look what's written. She could only see crazy scribbling inside. She figured that it was written in the same language as on the lid of the box. Suddenly, her sight went blank. Last what she remembered was a masculine voice shouting her name and green light blinding her eyes.

* * *

For Natsu, it was all rather confusing. First, Lucy acting strange, then her refusal to share stuff with him, and leaving him in the ball for some "important" reason he did not know, made him highly suspicious. And now, Lucy was wrapped in his hands, her open eyes shining green and her mouth blabbering in a different language. Something about it was disturbing, hell, _everything_ about it was disturbing. He was just gaping at her, wide eyed. Why was she the one who always suffered the most? He had followed her all the way to her house and witnessed everything. Now, at least he _knew_ what was happening. But, he didn't know what was happening to Lucy, and she surely needed a treatment. He decided to take her to Porlyusica.

Natsu was sitting by the window and looking at the birds chirping on the tree. He didn't actually observe the birds. He just stared at them, perplexed. Porlyusica was examining Lucy earlier, but now she stood in front of him. He stood up and shouted, "What's happened to Lucy, will she be all right?," "She is struck by a curse," Porlyusica said in her naturally dominating voice, "And it's impossible to treat her and bring her back. This curse can't be lifted unless she wills herself into forcing her freedom. And please keep your voice low." Since the GMG and Eclipse Project, she has been softer than usual to everyone, just a bit. Okay yes, she _did_ try to kill him at sight for being a human but she melted a bit after seeing Lucy.

"What?" Natsu said

She bit her lip. "The cure for this curse has never been invented, and it is the rarest curse used in the history of Earthland. This curse is casted when someone, who wants to protect his spoils or something important from the people–even if they intend to steal it or don't. This is just a simple curse, but if a powerful mage applies it, it can be incredibly complicated and strong. No one has ever been able to know how to cure it, because it has only been casted once- by a celestial spirit mage and the one who could cure it, the mage himself, died with his secrets. The mage put his curse on a piece of paper inside an envelope that was on the top of the belongings inside his box- that contained his powerful possessions. It is said that this paper also contains the cure. His curse was about to be casted on his brother, when he tried to take over the kingdom, but no one knows how, the celestial mage stopped it and in this process, died. Only a celestial mage can cure it- as I have heard. But I have no idea how she can be cured. What I think is that she has to fight this curse herself. She can stay here. And you may go now."

Just when he grasped the door handle, he heard a crisp voice of Lucy, "Le-uh-leave… m-my nakama a-alone". Natsu let go of the handle and ran over to Lucy, her luminous green eyes staring at the ceiling. He grabbed her shoulder and started shaking her.

* * *

"What's happening?" she said. She was in a blank space. Everything was black. Weird pieces of raised floors floated midair, here and there. She was actually falling, she could only 'see' herself falling on a screen of some kind, hung in the space. She was wearing king's robes instead of her normal pair of blouse and skirt in that screen. She looked down at her feet, but they weren't there. Lucy was invisible for the moment, or maybe just a faint soul of the Lucy she saw falling.

_It's not Lucy's fault. Lucy is not to be blamed .Lucy is innocent .Lucy should not be here. Lucy is innocent .Lucy is just a little girl being played with. Lucy... Lucy… Lucy. RUN_

It was a weird chanting feminine voice, but she did make a run for it. She didn't know why, that voice seemed familiar, and she _had_ to obey it. After a moment's running, she looked back and saw the place she was standing on was destroyed. Bits and pieces fell on another floor just below it. The floor cracked just below her feet, most probably, as she fell to the floor. She didn't feel like falling but her vision shifted, so she assumed she fell. Weird though.

An eerie laughter echoed throughout the seamless void.

_Is the little Lucy scared now?_

Lucy felt for her keys, but realized with utmost horror that they weren't with her anymore.

_There's nothing there hon. It's been a long time since I saw the world outside. I really wonder how much it has changed. Really, being locked up in this space was so boring. Sorry, got a bit off-topic. Ah… yes, your little bunch of keys. Lovely keys you got there. And they are MINE! _– the voice snapped. _How long has it been since I last saw them! This gold and silver gleam, the cute little shapes on them. And oh, the lion, pretty stubborn it was, I heard. Hated his beautiful previous master, how come you little wimp have it? And the twins-_

" Who are you and what do you want?!" Lucy said, helplessly.

_You won't need to know that yet. And I don' t like little girls questioning me._

A blurry shape of a man formed slowly. He was slightly smirking at Lucy. His stare seemed extremely mischievous. He didn't look like a mage of the keys. But he had a good knowledge of keys. He gestured towards the new screen that got formed in front Lucy. He pushed at it in the air and the Lucy in the screen was punched at the stomach. She flew a great distance. The Lucy looking at it clutched her stomach. A great sensation of pain jerked through her, focused on her gut. She crouched to the ground and yelled. She felt like all her intestines were being twisted and turned. She couldn't fight the guy. She didn't know how to do that.

_You love your nakama, right? The ones you trust with your life? I have someone you hold dear in my possession. Let's see how you will counter the iciness. Remember, little girl, it's not your fault. Lucy is innocent. Lucy…. My Lucy…_

"Le-Leave m-my nakama a-alone!"

_Wake up._

Half-conscious, Lucy looked up at Natsu, who was shaking her wildly. "Natsu?" she said and he stopped shaking her. "Lucy,"

"Porlyusica, can I take her?"

"Yes, you may. She looks fine now. Plus, I don't appreciate the presence of filthy humans here, anyways! Wait till I bring you a little suppressor, to help you a bit." she said, as she left the room to bring them Lucy's medicines.

He helped her up. As she tried to get up, a shock went from her stomach to her legs and she fell back on the bed. She squealed a little for the pain, and she couldn't get up.

"What happened?" Natsu asked.

"He hurt me."Lucy said.

"Who?" Porlyusica asked, darkly.

"I don't know" Suddenly, she felt for her keys. They were there, safe and sound.

"All right," she said and handed her the medicines.

As they went out, Happy came rushing towards them.

"Why are you here? We've been searching for you all this time!"

"Well, I dropped something here, so I came here to get it." Lucy said.

They started walking. Lucy did her best to hide the fact that it hurt to Happy and kept walking a bit slowly. Happy was shivering in the cold behind Natsu and Lucy. Suddenly, they froze and Happy bumped into Natsu. As Lucy looked past them, she saw a dark silhouette, leaning against a tree, few yards away from them. The guy was jerking, holding his head, as if trying to regain control.

"He…" said Natsu, "he smells like mint…"

Slowly, the mysterious person turned towards them. And to say that she was surprised was an understatement.

_I have someone you hold dear in my possession. Let's see how you will counter the iciness._

_Nakama._

_Ice._

Before them stood Gray, with blood trickling down from his mouth, and his fang-like teeth promising pain.

**Arigato, minna for reading. Please review, follow and favorite. Don't hesitate while PM-ing me.**

**Arigato, AsDarknessSpreads for Beta reading. You really did an awesome job.**

**Keep reading minna!**

**(And oh look, a cliff hanger!)**


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